Hoist



March 20, 1945. c. A. BURTON HOIST Filed Dec. 13, 1943 4 Sheets-Sheet l ca/my ,4. Bur/a0,

March 20, 1945.

C. A. BURTON HOIST Filed Dec. 15, 1-943 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 60/14 6 50/ for),

March 20, 1945. 5, A, BURTON 2,372,157

HOIS'I.

March 20, 1945. c. A. BVURTON HOIST Filed Dec. 13, 1943 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 (a/wk 6. 502-2620,

Patented Mar. 20, 1945 2,372,157 HOIST Calvin A. Burton, S racuse, N. Y., assi'ghor t'o Lamson Corporation, Syracuse, N. Y., "a corporation of New York Application December 13, 1943, serial Nb. 514,170

1 Claim. (01. 198138) ice accom lished, which is inexpensive 'in first cost, maintenance, and use of power, and which ischaracterized by simplicity of design permittin manufacture and installation thereof in a minimum of time.

The aforesaid objects are achieved, according to the invention, through the provision of a hoist based on the vertical conveyor lprincipleemployin'g two endless strands of chain, between which closely spaced carriers or cars are mounted, the chain operating in a watertight trunk extending between decks. The carrying chain and hence the hoist travel in one, direction only, but the latter is designed to provide both up and down service, the trunk being provided with service openings at convenient heights relative to the decks being served on either or both sides thereor; To provide for the handling of a wide va-' riety of ammunition loads, i. e. 30 caL, 50 cal., 20 mm.',, 40 min, 1.1", 3f, i", bomb boxes and clusters, fuses and the like, the cars are of special construction, being extra high and provided with simultaneously operable double doors at either or bothfront and rear thereof mounted for quick opening and closing movement.

Due to the height of the cars, specially de: signed car guiding means are provided at the drive an takempends of the chain whereby, in addition to b'eing simply and positively guided during theirtravel along the intermediate section of the hoist, the oarsare also positively guided in 'crossing overir'onif the ascending to'deseeming, and from descending to ascending sides of thesyst'em and are moreover tilted or tipped iromthe relative vertical during the cross-over movement in such manner as to overcome the resistance of heavil'y loaded elongated car bodies to change or d recti n in their travel. According to a furme reature ofthe invention, the two science or the carrying chain are driven by sprockets keyed to a common driving shaft discase e siith fl fihb a t e wh by ac curate alignment of the chains and cars is as- ',Fig'. 1 is a sured, the shaft being inturn driven through an electric motor or by hand means in the event of power failure. r

. The above and other features characterizing the invention and the objects thereof will be ap-.- parent from the following description taken with the drawings illustrating a physical embodiment of the invention, in which-- perspective view of an ammunition hoist according to the invention, certain parts being broken awayto show interior structure;

Fig. 2 is a section through the drive or head end of the trunk illustrating the car cross-over and special guiding means provided at the drive end of the system; x I

Fig. 3 is a section taken through the trunk at the foot end thereof, illustrating the car crossover and special guiding means provided at the take-up end or the system;

Fig. 4 is a front View of the drive trunk illustrating in dotted lines the drive for the through shaft carrying the chain driving sprockets;

Fig. 5 isa front elevation view of a hoist car.

according to the invention.

Referring to the drawings, wherein like reference characters indicate like parts throughout the several views, reference character In indicates'a vertically disposed trunk shown to have rectangular cross-section and being of steel plate, water-tight construction, the trunk extending between the decks of a vessel through suitable openihgs cut in the deck plates (or between floorsof a building). The trunk is provided with deck service openings ll arranged at a convenient height relative to the decks served by the 'hoist and which open to either the front orrear sides, or both, of the trunk depending upon the service requirements such as location of magazines, gun positions, and the like ;of aparticular installation. The trunk openings are adapted to be closed by water-tight doors l2 hinged along an edge thereof to a related side edge of the opening and which are secured as by conventional locking battens l3. V I

Enclosed within the trunk for operation therein is a hoist operating on the vertical conveyor principle, according to which cars are propelled along ascending and descending paths of travel by a carrying chainof endless type. The carrying chain, here employed consists of two transversely spaced endless strands I 8, 20 which are driven in unison from their upper or head ends by transversely spaced driving sprockets 22 keyed to a through shaft 23 turning in bearings 24 supported on structural elements carried by the trunk head section. The chain strands at their foot end travel over individually mounted sprockets 25 each carried by a floating take-up mechanism of more or less conventional construction, said mechanisms functioning to maintain chain tension and to compensate for chain stretch.

Referring to Fig. 4, the through shaft 23 carrying the chain driving sprockets 22 is driven through spur gearing 26, 21, reducing gear 28, and motor shaft 25 from a motor 30, this driving mechanism being shown as enclosed in a drive trunk 3| disposed adjacent the trunk head section. The motor is equipped with an automatic brake 32 to prevent excessive drift, the brake being manually releasable by a handle (not shown) on the rear of the motor. Preferably, the reducing gear incorporates a self-locking worm gear acting to prevent the hoist from running away when the brake is released manually.

In case of power failure, an emergency hand crank 35 extending through the relatively front wall of the drive trunk provides for manual operation of the hoist, the hand crank 35 operating a shaft 36 having a drive connection through bevel gears 31 and 38 with the motor-driven shaft 29. Hence, under emergency conditions, the through shaft 23 may be turned by the hand gear to operate the hoist. Means (not shown) are provided whereby operation of the hand gear automatically effects release of the brake 32 and whereby the motor is automatically cut out and the brake 32 set in case power comes on during an interval of hand operation.

Considering now the special car guiding and cross-over means, it will be observed (Fig. that the cars C according to the invention have appreciable height vertically to accommodate for the Wide variety of loads to be handled. Accordingly, the cars are each provided with vertically aligned side guide rollers 48 arranged in upper, intermediate and lower pairs. The guide rollers of the upper and intermediate pair 50, 5| turn on transverse studs or axles carried by and extending from the car side plates, whereas the lower pair 52 of the rollers turn on axles 53 also connected with the car side plates but which are continuations of the chain link pins. Accordingly, with rollers of the upper and intermediate pairs thereof being physically free of the chain, a, car may tilt or pivot relative to the chain strands about the axles of the lower set 52 of rollers.

With the cars mounted between the chain strands and supported from the chain through the elongated link pins 53, the cars are positively guided along their ascending and descending paths of travel by laterally spaced and vertically disposed guide tracks 54, 55 carried by suitable track brackets secured to the sides of the intermediate section of the trunk Ill. The guide tracks are suitably flanged so as to guide the rollers of the three pairs thereof, both front and rear. the flanges being sufficiently deep that the tracks also house the chain strands which are disposed relatively outwardly of the guide rollers.

It will be observed (Fig. 2) that due to the chain strands following the driving sprockets 22, the link pins 53, the lower pair 52 of the guide rollers and hence the lower portion of the cars will travel over the sprockets from ascending to descending side. According to the invention, car guiding means are provided not only to positively guide the upper portion of the car during such cross-over movement, but also to tilt or tip the car forwardly as its direction of travel is changed from vertical to horizontal and rearwardly as its direction of travel is changed from horizontal to vertical. By such arrangement the inertia or resistance of the upper portion of a vertically elongated car carrying similarly elongated loads to the required change of direction is in effect balanced out, which is a feature of advantage in a hoist Where heavy loads of the character specified are carried over the top. To this end the relatively inner flange 54a of each ascending guide track, rather than extending vertically above its related driving sprocket, is fashioned to form a semi-circular guide flange or rail connecting with the inner guide flange 55a of the descending track 55, for easing the chain and the lower guide rollers 52 around the sprockets and into the track 55. The relatively outer flange 5% of each of the guide tracks is, however, extended upwardly above the driving sprockets to provide vertical guidance for the upper pair of guide rollers 55 and is thereupon curved inwardly or towards the hoist center line along an are or curvature relative to that of the lower semi-circular flange such as to cause the upper end of the cars to tilt or tip forwardly a limited amount such that the inertia or resistance of the upper portion of the car to change of direction is counterbalanced in effective manner and the tendency of the upper end of the cars to tilt rearwardly as a consequence of such change of direction is overcome.

To positively control the forward tilting of center line of the car at the high point of its' travel may correspond to the vertical center line of the hoist proper.

As a consequence of the bottom pair of guide rollers of a car traveling the downwardly extending arc of the driving sprockets, the car now begins to descend, the top rollers 50 being guided by a reversely disposed guideway provided by curved guide track flanges 55b, 550, which positively guide the car in its initial descending movement to a level at which all the guide rollers enter the immediate section of guide track 55 on the descending side. The curvature or inclination of the reversely disposed guideway is moreover such as to cause the car during such initial descending movement to tilt or tip rearwardly, thus to counterbalance the resistance of the upper portion of the car to change in its direction of travel from horizontal to vertical.

It will be observed that the inner flanges of both guide tracks 54, 55 are omitted between the semi-circular flange or rail portion and the rela-. tively inner flanges 54c, 550. Accordingly, the intermediate rollers 5| are free to follow without flange interference a path of travel during car cross-over as determined by the position of the car at any instant. The function of the intermediate rollers is that of preventing the upper rollers 50 from following around the chain sprockets, a condition which could easily occur on shipboard due to the pitch or roll of the ship it. a. car app oachin the. eraser-over is not main-- tained in. true, vertical-1 position until the lower guide. rollers 52; ascend to the. ley he, ho iz ta axis or the. chain snrockeia To; insure; that the top rollers 50; having ea hed the hi h poin f: he r t a l w l in e inning: their; descent, follow the guide tracks; on: the descending side, there. is provided; on each upp t ack section a co nt rwcish si and minsnress d. at 56 n m lly'pos ti ne in the ascendin path of the. r, r ler 5.0... The a s: each have a am. surface 56cwh chtwhe enea e z by the t o rollers, auses the. sateto. r ra t. thus. Permitti g these roll to. m v nto the peak. section 54d. Upon the top rollers clearing; the. rates. the latter au matica ly return u der the influence. of: heir counterweigh s and sprin s to arcsition in which an e e urface. ifib o each positivehguides. the rollers into the rever e rransed sui cway on the. des endin sid It will be observed at this 11 ml that, the. path of; car travel in crossing over f rom ascending to descending side of the system, b ing above t e driving sproc e ax er the use oi a throu h sha t 23. common to the dr vi sp k ts whereby accurate alignment of chain. and cars is assured.

At the take-up end of the system, substantially a reverse arrangement of cross-over means is provided to cause the car to reverse its descending movement and to. initiate its ascending movement. relatively under the take-up sprockets 25 and with the lower pair 52 of guide rollers following; the chain, the special guiding means for the upper pair of car rollers i! comprises for each side of the car a cam plate 60 having an inclined track section or guideway whose flanges 55c. 55;, merge into an intermediate guide track section 55g which is vertically disposed and which come municates with an oppositely and upwardly in= clined guideway whose flanges 54c, 54f open into the lower end of the, ascending guide track 54. Such oppositely inclined guideways function to positively guide the upper pair of carrollers as the lower pair thereof follows the under periphery o t e. p o ke 2 he e t i e flanges of both guide tracks are cut, away be-. tween the inclined lower edge 51 of the cam plates to and the semi ircula inn r nge 55 thus to provide for the cross travel of the intermediate pair of car rollers 51 without flange in.- terference. Each cam plate is provided also with a cam edge 51a, against which the intermediate rollers may bear to straighten out the car as the latter begins its true verti al movement.

The cam plates each carries a gravity and spring weighted gate 58 which functions similarly to the gate 56 in directing the rollers of the upper pa r 50 thereof into th upward y incli ed u deways following reversal of the car for its ascend? ns m vemen he down a dly and u wa l in in d. u dew ways as described are sloped or curved relative to the nde ci c fe en e o the take-u s ckets so as to cause the cars traveling the same to tilt or tip forwardly when negotiating the downwardly inclined guideway and rearwardly when negotiating the upwardly inclined guideway. Accordingly, the resistance of a descending car to change of direction from vertical to horizontal, and thereupon from horizontal to vertical ascending travel, is overcome by the special guide means as described, this feature being of advantage when heavily loaded cars are required With. t hain. s r ds as in hoist.

Specia means or hosii cla din h #92 wher 5. of h ar to h d wnwar ly u de a me by track. h uses .5% 5:, s. also. prov ded. As, s ow suc mean nc u s. o ea o he. u d tra ks a. KQQKG am M embly 5.9 B 3; cxam d. nter-m di t ends on. a fixed. ax s a. and. arr in a t we en a cam. .912 a a ts p e n r or swi ch. laic- 9cm. s em ly 5 is or en h uch ha the uppe d t e am. 59b.

' dis osed a a v l, orr poad as o he o the o er s r c et 2.5, a d th w h Pla e. 53. e ates a he. lev of th o enin to the. n,- c ih d. eh ew y orme b he, f a es. 551'- Mor ever. t e a m s s W igh d o ia es that he. 5. 12 armal y e tends in o the s ace be wee t u e flan es- 5511. We rid. hence the path of travel o the l e ca r le s wit th sw tch plat 5. n hav n a n ma y et a ted. o i o as the owe r le s o a descending r reach a oin a roh a elyle e w h the o of e owe tahe r ke s. h ea h en g a cam o th p e an or t e. r k r arm. a s mbly l kwi e Durin travel o th c r lle s. a e he u e o th cams 591;, the switch plates close the vertical gui rac a a s er c l aee h n mo men i he o ro er 50 and snide h latter into he d nwardly incl ned widewa Th wit h p ate h nositi comm sth tra oi e up e or ion o ar n a ds ansmai -1 a o tilt tip owards h c nt r in o e hois as es r dhe. ver ica y lon at d c s are hr i bl of t e S c al ns ructio illus rat d. in F 5. acwrd hs o which a car e r o t m te 0.

is secu ed a by weldin b t e t e ar side p a e El. 62 the atter be n r L-sha to Prov de op half c on Ma. 6 4 wh en W wards a her and abut t hrqv e he on top, heins mo eo e eeilre aloha, h i a ut: he edges a hr e din Th car re r in orc at thei was by from and re r r cross-b rs 6.4.. nd at the r ttom y from an r ar 99* tom c s ars a 4a th 5. ha e aforesaid. heme, p e e l ecu as hr we ha A ca ody as descr hu has ts t ams a d r a ide p n. whe eby oa s an h plaged in or r mo d fro th ca om. ei h s fr m or ea des. hus to meet ck equireme o oadi an un ading f om t er Side of h t nk- Where loading and unloading is to be efiected from one side of the trunk only the car will be provided with a fixed back plate closing the effective rear or back thereof.

The open sides of the car are each adapted to be closed by spring-actuated double doors 65, 65

' connected by a connecting bar 10 (Fig. 5) for simultaneous operation and for Quick opening movem nt upon a tuation i one o s dOQrSl hi e the s ec fic mea s P o id n t r th o sa d doo op ratio are n t rih l u trat d. t ill be ob e v bo t o Fi 1 that he car d o in their open osit n u stant all -o erli the car side plates, thus to provide access to the car interior for the full width of the car.

Readily releasable latch means are provided to maintain the actuating door of the pair of doors positively latched in its closed position except when released for opening movement. Accordingly the righthand door 65 carries a latch 15 (Fig. 5) preferably of the spring-projected bolt type, the bolt of which is adapted to engage in a to travel.- .ar ho he, l wer- Q1" Whe ie and. oi as.

keeper carried by the car top and extending forwardly thereof. The bolt is retractable to unlatch the door when latch rod 11 (Fig. 7) is displaced downwardly from its lower end, the latter being angled and carrying a hand bar 18. Door 56 carries a hand grip 19 extending from its free edge and disposed to the rear of the angled end of the latch bar and of the hand bar 18 carried thereby. To release the latch and thereby open the car doors the operator is required merely to press down on the hand bar 18, thereby to retract the latch bolt, and then to withdraw his hand whereupon both doors spring open. To close the doors the operator grasps the hand grip 19 of the open righthand door and swings the same to closed position, whereupon both doors close and are latched in place. As the rear doors (when provided) are similar to and operate in like manner to the front doors, no description thereof or of their operation is believed to be necessary.

The car side plates and doors are preferably fashioned from pressed steel plate suitably reinforced as byribs 80, The car side plates may carry outer guide plates 8| welded thereto, which in turn carry the studs on which the upper and intermediate pairs of car guide rollers are mounted to turn. The guide plates also carry the aligned bosses 84 in which are journaled the chain link pins 53 by which the car is connected to the chain and about the axis of which the car may turn in its cross-over movement, as described.

With the system described, it will be seen that a plurality of cars connected across the chain strands at points adjacent their bottoms are propelled by the chain along ascending and descending paths to provide a hoist operating on the vertical conveyor principle. In such a system, the cars are closely spaced and are moved the distance of one car space, i. e. the distance between centers of two successive cars, per cycle of hoist operation, and are then stopped at a position in which the cars register with the trunk openings ll servicing the various decks.

Sill switches LS5 (Fig. 2) are provided within the trunk and adjacent each of the openings I I thereof on the descending side of the hoist; and similarly lintel switches LS-6 (Fig. 3) are provided within the trunk at each of the trunk openings on the ascending side. These switches which are connected in a control circuit (not shown) function as safety switches, being normally closed but adapted to be opened if any of the car doors are left open to cut out the driving motor 30 immediately following starting of the motor cycle. As indicated in Fig. 2, the sill switch LS--5, which is disposed within the trunk and adjacent a lower side corner of the trunk opening, is of the type having a roller-tipped switch arm 90 positioned to be thrown by an operating plate assembly 9| extending between spaced side guides which run on ball-bearing rollers at each side of the trunk opening, as generally shown. The operating plate is moved downwardly against the urge of spring 92 when bumpers provided thereon are engaged by a car door inadventently left open, to throw the switch arm and open the switch LS-S. The lintel switch 15-8 shown in Fig. 3 is of the same general construction and is similarly opened by a car door left open, although it employs no springs, the operating plate being raised by an open door against the force of gravity to a position in which it engages the switch arm. Button-type stop switches corresponding to #2 Stop (Fig. 1) are provided at all stations (trunk openings ll) whereby any operator can stop the hoist under an emergency condition requiring the same. All stations are moreover provided with signal lights and cycle starting switches corresponding to those designated #2 Lights and #2 Ready start," as generally shown in Fig. 1, whereby the operator is enabled to control operation of the hoist in accordance with prescribed system requirements which contemplate the dispatch of a load from one station only if the particular station which is to receive the load is properly manned and conditioned for load reception.

As many changes could be made in carrying out the above constructions without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

I claim:

In a vertical hoist of the character described, transversely spaced endless chain strands, driving and idler sprockets therefor turning on horizontal axes means for actuating the driving sprockets in unison, a vertically elongated car provided at its sides with top and bottom guide rollers and being disposed between the strands and connected thereto for free turning movement about a horizontal axis extending through the car adjacent its bottom and on which the bottom guide rollers are adapted to turn, vertical guide tracks for the strands and rollers extending between the drive and idler sprockets, guideways extending between the upper ends of the vertical guide tracks for guiding the top rollers as the bottom rollers follow around the driving sprockets with the strands, an inclined guideway for the top rollers adapted to positively guide the upper end of the car as the bottom end thereof follows around the idler sprockets with the chain strands, said guideway opening into a guide track on the descending side, and a rocker arm assemby for positively directing the top guide rollers into the guideway including a rocker arm pivoted intermediate its ends and carrying at its lower end a cam positioned at a level intermediate the junction of said guide track and guideway and the idler sprockets and which normally extends into the path of travel of the bottom rollers, said arm carrying at its upper end a normally retracted switch plate adapted in its switching position to direct the upper rollers traveling in said guide track into the guideway, the arrange ment being such that upon the bottom rollers engaging the earn the arm is rocked and the switch plate projected to its switching position.

CALVIN A. BURTON. 

